Newbie interested in Endurance Race

Good day folks!
New to racing, my second season with CVMA and AFM at the moment. I'm planning to race WERA this year and have been dreaming of participating in endurance racing.

As I continue to learn how to race, I would like to get an idea of the essentials needed to successfully finish an endurance race event. With the exception of skills and ability to endure long period of track racing, I'd like to get an idea of what pit tools outside normal racing event are a must have. Obviously I've collected enough pit tools to survive the 2 season of racing so I'm hoping I'm not too far away from a good endurance set up.

Appreciate any guidance!
Thank you!

 

@renegade17

 

You don't *need* anything different for Endurance. There's plenty of "nice to have" things to make life easier and be more competitive, like:

Quick way to fuel up- The ultimate is a big tank (custom) with a dry break setup. Expensive new, hard to find used. A smaller step would be a keyless cap (preferably quick release) and a regular fuel jug with the biggest hose available that'll fit the hole.

Captive wheel spacers- less important on a small bike at slower pace as you may not have to swap tires in most 4 hour races.

Cordless impact gun to zip off axle nuts

Spare set of wheels with rains mounted. Better yet, a 3rd set with DOT/slicks mounted too.

 

I'm reviving this thread as I'm also considering doing a couple Endurance races this year. I've raced in AHRMA for the past few years and am doing some sprint races on a modern bike this year also. But my buddy and I thought it would be fun to try some 2-hour races as well. A few questions:
- How many people do you need for support? Is one person enough? Five? The 2nd Battalion?
- I'm assuming there is space set up on hot pit to set up a tent and what not?
- Do you typically agree ahead of time that each racer will do a set number of laps or time per session or is it more "go till you get tired" kinda thing?
- How do you communicate with the rider on track, if at all? Pit board? Laser pointer? Throwing rocks? Gang signs?
- Does/Will N2 run an endurance race on both Sat and Sun or is it just one race a weekend?
- I have tire warmers but they need 120v. Are folks gridding with tire warmers on? Are you taking a generator out onto hot pit?
- How many teams do the races typically field?

Thanks in advance!
Tim in Indianapolis

 

yes???
Fitness is a part of it but also fuel capacity. Measure in liters to determine your mpgs. Most teams use fuel range as the main focus of pit stops. You can have a pitboard to let the rider know how much time they have left or just go til the fuel light comes on plus 1...lol

 

You can do it with a two person team, but one more sure helps. People in the pits are always happy to lend a hand for pit stops, don't be afraid to ask for help. With just two people, rider getting on puts the stand under the bike and then grabs the gas can. Rider getting off grabs the fire bottle. Rider getting on dumps the fuel, as soon as that is done the fire bottle is set down, gas can down, new rider gets on, other rider pulls the stand. Much easier with a couple more people though.

Plenty of room for canopies on pit road.

Most go by time out on track or the need to refuel. Just watch the rider on track if they have to tap out early, especially when its hot.

Pit board is nice but work out a few hand signals. We tap on the head (not feelin' it) or tap on the tank. Person on the wall give a pit sign when ready.
Two races per weekend, 2 hours for ULW, 4 hours for the other three classes, both on Saturday. Sunday is Wera sprint races.

Tire warmers are used before the race on pit road. You don't go onto the grid with them. The start is one hot lap to your grid position, and off you go.

The ULW race is usually up to a dozen bikes. The big bike race is about 20 to 25 bikes. You can look at last years results to see the grid sizes.

Hope to see you out there!

 

Man oh man that is great info. Thank you. Excited to give Endurance a go!

 

For pit boards you can keep them simple. We did “30” “15” and “PIT” to communicate to the rider. Used thick poster board and big contrasting colors and we could see them easily. We didn’t need to know position on track or +/- seconds, we just wanted to know time we had on track. For us this worked well. The “17” was displayed at our pit box when rider came in to help him find the spot!

 

From my 1 time race experience:

How many support people: we had 3. Wanted to keep rider involvement to a minimum (3 riders). Had 2 people on the fuel can (no quick fill set up), 1 on the rear wheel, and the rider not coming off/on manning the fire extinguisher. We wanted rider off and rider on to not have to do anything but a quick debrief about anything hinky with the bike or track. Our pit manager (Mike's wife) monitored time on track and our pit boards on the wall, and kept us on schedule with pit stops. She was awesome! You can most definitely find help in the paddock from people.

Pit space: yep, you'll be able to set up a canopy, table, chairs, tire rack, etc. on the inside of the wall. Nothing over the wall on hot pit but the bike and stands. It's first come first served on pit set up the night before. For the PittRace round, we set up as soon as the track went cold the day before.

We did 40 minute stints per rider, 3 rider rotation, 2 stints each. We knew we weren't in the podium hunt, and since it was our first, we wanted each rider to have equal time on the track since all expenses were split equally.

Communications: see above for pit board ideas. We did have hand signals from rider to wall sorted out, but hand signals from wall to rider are almost impossible to see at speed.

N2 did a Friday track day at most (if not all, you'd have to double check) endurance weekends. It's a good way to work out kinks in the bike and practice pit stops in the paddock. (practice a LOT!) Gotta have a solid plan for pit stops.

Tire warmers: on the bike pre-race but that's it. Warmers on the spares on a tire tree, or bring a couple 5-gallon buckets to set wheels on with the warmers for a cheap alternative. Yes, we brought a generator down to the pit box.

How many teams: as suggested, check the grids for last season. We had 6 teams for HWT at PittRace, I think MW had 10 and LWT had 10-11?? These 3 classes all ran same time, with ULW doing the 2 hour prior to the 4hr. ULW had 10-15 I think.

We spent a lot of time contemplating "what if's" and planning pit stops, rider rotations, practicing wheel changes, and fuel needs. Don't OVERTHINK the race itself. Just go out and ride your ride. Be consistent, and manage your time. While we knew we weren't going win, we wanted to make a respectable showing and not make fools of ourselves! We had a friggin' blast! Came in 4th, 6 or 8 laps off the podium behind JinbaAttai(sp?), TwistedSpeed, and of course AOD. Got to ride with some of the fastest emm-effers I've ever been passed by and brought the bike home in one piece.

Hope it works out for you! If you see the 17 bike at the track this year, come say hi!

 

Quick question in regards to bike classification for the new endurance relay race.

I have a modified/altered kawi ex650 (front conversion and subframe alteration)...can I run in the mediumweight class with my bike?

Reason for asking is my potential teammate has a 675 triple.

Any insight will be greatly appreciated and if the answer is no, I understand.

 

I am not 100% sure, only 99% at this point, but the relay class is the relay class. Heavyweight, lightweight, and mediumweight are all battling against each other, so I don't see a reason why you can't mix up the bikes (as they fit within the 3 categories)

 

Start drinking water now and dont stop....

 

I'm interested in getting in on the action in the ULW class at CMP and Roebling. I read in the rulebook that I need to fill out a team application form. Anyone know where to find this form? I didn't see it listed on the website.

 

Entry is now through the N2 website. The Wera team form is no longer needed.

 

Making the process easier every year...woot!

 

We are all lined up for the endurance race this weekend. Looks really wet. Do we need to have a rain light?
TIA - Harry

 

No rain light needed.